World's first large-scale tidal energy farm

According to The Guardian, a turbine for the MeyGen tidal stream project in Pentland Firth was unveiled outside Inverness in the Scottish Highlands.

The largest tidal turbine ever built. Photo: Mike Brookers Roper/PA

After the ceremorny, the turbine with a height of 15 metres and blades 16 metres in diameter and weighing in almost 200 tonnes will begin its journey to the project's site in the waters off the north coast of Scotland between Caithness and Orkney.

This will be the first of four turbines to be installed underwater with a capacity of 1.5MW each in the initial phase of the project.

The developer, however, hopes the project which has received USD 30.5m in Scottish goverment funding will have 269 turbines, bringing its capacity to 398MW, which is enough to power 175,000 homes.

Maf Smith, the deputy chief executive of the lobby group RenewableUK said the MeyGen project is a "major step forward in terms of scale" and provides "a great boost in maintaining Britain's pole position" in the renewables sector.

"The fact that the first turbine was assembled at what was an oil and gas fabrication yard illustrates the opportunities offered by renewables", he said.

This project is also expected to provide vital jobs for a skilled workforce in Scotland.

Tidal power is exploited by setting turbines underwater. The tide's rising and ebbing make turbine's rotation to generate power.